Islamic Blog dealing with religious and worldly issues faced by the Muslims.

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Friday, 18 March 2016

Fundamentalism of Sunnah (hadith) and Mr. Ghamdi’s Views (1)

Mr. Ghamdi views that Quran and Sunnah (not hadith)
are basic and sole sources of Deen. Hadith is not source of Deen; it is only
interpretation of principles contained in sole sources i.e. Quran and Sunnah.
If a hadith describes/explains (in the reader’s view) any principle contained
in Quran and Sunnah, it will be accepted as correct hadith and correct
interpretation of Quran and Sunnah; but if a hadith does not describe/ explain
(in the reader’s view) any principle contained in Quran and Sunnah, it will be
incorrect hadith and incorrect interpretation of Quran and Sunnah.

He differentiates between Sunnah and hadith; he says
Sunnah are such traditions/practices which have been transferred to our Nabi (ﷺ) from the previous
prophets (ﷺ),
and such traditions were widely known to the people. He says hadith are ‘akhbar e ehad’ which were
not widely known to the people; a hadith was used to be addressed to a solitary
person or a few persons only. As such, hadith cannot be a basic source of Deen
which should be widely known to the people.

He further
says even if hadith are accepted as correct hadith (being correct
interpretation of principle contained in the Quran and Sunnah), they are not to
be accepted as Deen; rather they are to be accepted only as interpretations of
principles contained in the Quran and Sunnah.

He further
says even if hadith are accepted as correct hadith (being correct
interpretation of principle contained in the Quran and Sunnah), they are not
essentially applicable to present age Muslims; many of them are time specific
and people specific, and as such are applicable only to those people who
were living in the age of our Nabi (ﷺ).

There is one contradiction in Mr.
Ghamdi’s views. On the one hand he says hadith are only interpretations of Deen
i.e. Quran and Sunnah (by it he means hadith are not Deen - they are not
‘mustakil bil zaat commandments), but on the other hand, he saysviolation of a correct
(sahih) hadith is violation of Deen/ ‘eman’. He is declaring violation of
hadith as violation of Deen without taking hadith as a part of Deen.

Before
analyzing Mr. Ghamdi’s views stated above, it would be pertinent to describe
briefly what is Deen according to the Quran and Sunnah (hadith). According to
the Quran, Deen is what has been revealed to our Nabi (ﷺ) in the form of
‘wahi’. This ‘wahi’ has been revealed in two forms. The first form is the
Quran.

“Surely We have revealed to you the Book with the truth, therefore
serve Allah, being sincere to Him in Deen”
(al-zumar-2).

The second form of ‘wahi’ is words
of our Nabi (ﷺ) and words of Gabriel (a.s).

“Indeed,
that (wahi) is the word of a noble Messenger/ rasool (ﷺ)” (al-haqah-40).

“Indeed,
that (wahi) is a word of a noble ‘rasool’ (Gabriel)” (al-takveer-19).

In the Quran, there are other verses also
which show that Sunnah (Hadith) is a form of ‘wahi’.

In short, Deen is
the wahi which has been revealed in the form of Quran and Sunnah which includes
Hadith. It means we cannot add anything into the ‘Deen’, if that thing is not
wahi. Similarly we cannot exclude anything from the ‘Deen’, if that thing is a ‘wahi’.
There is only one exception to this rule i.e. time specific and people specific
‘wahi’ is not part of Deen. Time specific and people specific wahi is actually
relating to methodology/ policy of implementing the Deen; we will explain it
later in this article.

This
fact that Deen is ‘wahi’ has been mentioned in the Quran in following manner as
well:

And whatever the Messenger (ﷺ) has given you - take; and what he (ﷺ) has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allah ; indeed,
Allah is severe in penalty. (al-hashr-7).

Because our Nabi (ﷺ) does
not speak/act but under ‘wahi’ (al-najm-3,4), and because ‘wahi’ is the Deen, this
above mentioned verse (al-hashr-7) is stating that whatever has been
given/recommended by our Nabi (ﷺ) is the Deen; similarly whatever has been forbidden by our
Nabi (ﷺ) is also part of Deen as a forbidden thing. If Muslims
are to accept what has been given to them and what has been forbidden to them
by our Nabi (ﷺ), it means this verse (al-hashr-7) is stating about the
Deen; because, obviously outside the Deen, Muslims are not under obligation to accept/follow
anything.

Because our Nabi (ﷺ) does
not speak/act but according to ‘wahi’, and because ‘wahi’ is the Deen, this
verse is stating that following our Nabi (ﷺ) is the Deen. Following is different from obedience in the
sense that obedience is relating to orders/commandments only whereas following
is related to everything- whether commanded or not. In other words, what words
came out of mouth of our Nabi (ﷺ); what actions or omissions were committed or recommended
by our Nabi (ﷺ); what gestures were made by our Nabi (ﷺ) what
advices were tendered by our Nabi (ﷺ); what explanations and knowledge was imparted by our Nabi (ﷺ) - all
are Deen and as such need to be followed
by the Muslims. A person’s statements or actions may be of three types; they
may be affirmative (apparently or impliedly); they may be negative (apparently
or impliedly); or they may be neutral. All three types of statements and
actions adopted by our Nabi (ﷺ) are part of Deen, and as such are to be accepted and
followed by the Muslims.

There is only one exception to what details of Deen have
been described above; this exception is relating to time specific and people
specific ‘wahi’. If our Nabi (ﷺ) acted in Contradictory manner in two different
situations pertaining to the same subject-matter, such deeds will be called as
time specific or people specific Deen. There
is difference between Contradictory and Different deeds/views. Two views/deeds are different views/deeds,
if any one of the two may be adopted without negating or accepting the
other one. Two views/deeds are contradictory views/deeds, if any one of the two
may NOT be adopted without negating the other. For
instance, A says Z is dead; and B says Z is alive; these two views are
contradictory because a person may not adopt any one of the two without
negating the other view. Similarly, suppose, A says Z is sick; B says Z is on
leave; these two views are different views because a person may adopt any one
of the two views without negating the other one.

For instance, during ‘Ghazw e badr’ our Nabi (ﷺ) opted
to fight the enemy in the open field; whereas during ‘Ghazw e Khandaq’ fighting
was done keeping within the city which was surrounded by ‘khandaq/tunnel’.
These two policies are contradictory to each other, and as such may be called
as situation/time specific. Similarly, if two different companions were
appointed as commander in chief in different situations, such an act will be
called as contradictory deed, and as such would be labeled as situation
specific.

In cases of Contradictory deeds in two different situations
but relating to the same subject-matter, Muslims are allowed to adopt actions
suited to their given situation. Though such deeds were done by our Nabi (ﷺ) under
‘wahi’ but are not part of permanent Deen; more appropriately such deeds may be called as
time specific and people specific Deen OR methodology/policy to implement what has been contained in the Deen. (for
details plz see http://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2015/12/enforcement-of-islam-through-muslims.html).

But it may be appreciated that merely Different deeds/views
in two different situation but relating to the same subject-matter cannot becalled as situation specific or people specific. For instance if each one of any two companions asks separately
our Nabi (ﷺ) about the best deed for a Muslim, and our Nabi (ﷺ) replies
each one of them by naming different deed
as the best deed for a Muslim, these
would be only Different deeds, if both may be adopted by the Muslims collectively-one Muslim adopting one deed and another Muslim adopting the other deed simultaneously;
such deeds cannot be labeled as situation specific or people specific. Situation specific and person specific deeds/views are only contradictory views/deeds which cannot be adopted simultaneously by the Muslims collectively.

In the light of features of Deen and Sunnah (Hadith) described
above, we would analyze Mr. Ghamdi’s views given above (continued).